Striking Range

by Margaret Mizushima

  Since it was past checkout time, most of the rooms were empty, and when she returned to the lobby, she felt certain she hadn’t been spotted. The rooms on each side of Hauck’s were unoccupied, but Mattie was concerned that Skylar might be here on the property. Had he come to take possession of the baby?

  Keeping an eye on the courtyard, Mattie stood behind the curtain in the lobby window. Soon Skylar exited his room, without luggage, and drove away. Mattie watched him go with mixed feelings. At least he was now out of the way. But would he return and try to intervene when they made their move?

  Stella arrived, her movements quick and her attention focused as she joined Mattie at the window. Mattie pointed out the room behind Hauck’s sedan. Dale watched them from behind the counter, not even trying to hide his excitement. “Let me know how I can help,” he said.

  Mattie nodded at him. “You’ve already helped tremendously.”

  Her voice quiet yet intense, Stella updated Mattie on what she’d accomplished before leaving the station. She’d reached McCoy to inform him about their situation and Hauck’s potential involvement. She’d discovered then that even though the K-9 teams had finished their work and left to return to Denver, Hauck and Cole were still up at the cave.

  The news flooded Mattie’s system with fear. She tried not to let it consume her thinking processes, because she needed to keep her wits about her if they were to recover Tonya’s baby unharmed. She had to leave Cole’s safety in the hands of Brody and the sheriff.

  As she spoke, Stella seemed to be watching Mattie for her reaction. She must have been satisfied, because she pressed on. “And Judge Taylor gave me a verbal warrant to search that room. Let’s figure out the best way to execute it.”

  * * *

  With Robo on a leash at Mattie’s side, she led Stella around the motel toward the back of the property, where they could remain hidden from view from the front side. Dale had given them two key cards, one that released the doorknob and a master key that released the security dead bolt. Mattie pinned all her hope on Deidra’s desire to keep this baby alive, no matter what her motive.

  When they reached the corner of the building, Stella spoke softly. “There’s a possibility she’s armed.”

  “We should plan on that.”

  Mattie’s amped-up emotional state had traveled right down the leash to Robo, and he danced in place at her side. She drew a steady breath and placed her hand on his head. “Easy,” she murmured.

  They stole down the sidewalk between the two buildings at the end of the courtyard toward a housekeeping cart that Dale had trundled over and left for them. Mattie kept Robo hidden behind it, and she and Stella ducked their heads, turning their faces away from the window, as they rolled the cart up to the door of the room. The draperies were closed and looked heavy enough to have blocked them from view.

  Mattie parked the cart in front of the door, leaving enough room for them to squeeze through. Stella took one side of the door while Mattie took the other, staying out of view from the window. She fished the clearly marked key cards from her pocket while Stella drew her service weapon.

  Using a hand signal, Mattie told Robo to stay behind the cart. He pricked his ears and watched her, panting with excitement.

  Mattie tapped on the door. “Housekeeping,” she said, disguising her voice and hoping that Deidra wouldn’t recognize it.

  No answer. They needed to announce themselves as police before they entered the room, but if they heard one cry from the baby, it would give them exigent circumstances to move ahead. They’d hoped that Deidra would give herself away as they fiddled with the door.

  Adrenaline had already saturated her system, making her heart rate climb. She glanced at Stella, who nodded. Mattie used the key card to swipe at the doorknob. It clicked open, but the security bolt was in place.

  “Just a minute,” came a female voice from inside.

  “Housekeeping,” she repeated as she traded out one key for the other. When she swiped the dead bolt, it didn’t release.

  “I said wait a minute, goddammit.” Loud and angry, the color of this voice was nothing like the dulcet tones Deidra had used during her interview.

  Inside the room, a baby began to cry—the high-pitched wail of a newborn that pressed at Mattie’s heart.

  “Sheriff’s department!” Stella shouted. “Do you have a baby inside?”

  “No,” Deidra responded, although the baby continued to cry.

  “It’s a go,” Stella murmured, before shouting at the closed door. “Sheriff’s department! Open up!”

  Mattie swiped the card again, and this time the door opened. She pushed it back against the wall.

  Stella stepped inside. “Hands up where I can see them!”

  Mattie entered behind Stella in time to see Deidra raise her hands for a split second and then dive for the bed. She snatched the baby, still wrapped in a yellow blanket, and cradled it against her chest. She whirled and ran down the hallway, disappearing into the back bedroom. The door slammed behind her, and the turn of the lock resounded in the room.

  “The window!” Stella shouted.

  “Cover this exit!” Mattie darted around the housekeeping cart. “Robo, heel!”

  She sprinted down the sidewalk between the two buildings with Robo at her side. When she rounded the corner of the building, she spotted Deidra running full tilt toward her car with the baby clutched to her chest. She heard a crash from the other side of the window, and she figured Stella had just breached the locked door.

  “Halt! Deidra, halt, or I’ll send the dog!” Though she would never release Robo and endanger the baby, Mattie issued the threat anyway. Mattie ran toward Deidra while Robo ranged out in front, a missile wanting release. She could tell he craved a takedown and was just waiting for his command.

  Deidra glanced at Robo and stopped, the baby wailing in her arms. Stella climbed through the window, landing on her feet. She assumed a shooter’s stance, her weapon trained on Deidra.

  It seemed to be a stalemate, and Mattie feared for the baby’s safety. “Robo! Guard!”

  Robo crouched about thirty feet from Deidra, his hackles raised and his teeth bared.

  The baby’s cry swelled as Deidra clutched it against her.

  Mattie slowly advanced, holding out her arms. “Give the baby to me, Deidra,” she said quietly.

  “Get back!” Deidra took a step backward.

  “Don’t move or my dog will attack,” Mattie said in the same soft voice, knowing full well that he wouldn’t unless she told him to. “He won’t go for the baby. He knows where the threat is. He’ll go for you.”

  Deidra stood frozen in place. “He’ll hurt the baby.”

  “No, he won’t.” Mattie took a few steps closer. “He’ll go for your legs. He’ll bite.”

  Robo was trained to go for the arm when threatened by a fugitive, but Deidra wouldn’t know that.

  Mattie edged closer while Deidra eyed Robo. The baby’s cries echoed against the back of the building, filling the air. It was nerve-racking. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Stella inching toward them off to the side.

  Robo slunk forward, and Mattie feared she might lose control of him. He really wanted that bite, and the baby’s cries were agitating him too. She reinforced him with another command. “Guard!”

  She exerted effort to remain calm as she sidled closer. Hoping to fill the woman’s mind with doubts, she kept up a quiet chatter. “Deidra, you need to do the right thing and give me the baby. It’s over. You’re not leaving here. You don’t have your purse with you. Do you even have your keys? The baby carrier is still in the room. How are you going to drive and keep the baby safe? If you cooperate, things will go better for you. They always do. I’ve seen it time and time again.”

  Hauck had been with Mattie when Tonya died, so she knew he hadn’t killed her. Which meant this woman had. Things would not go easy for her.

  “Stay back!” Deidra’s eyes had grown wild with indecision. They shifted
between Mattie and Robo.

  It’s time to turn up the heat. “Look at his jaws, Deidra. They’re powerful. He’ll bite you. If you give me the baby, I won’t let him.”

  Mattie glanced at Robo in time to see saliva drip from his mouth. His teeth gleamed, but he was holding steady. How much longer can this standoff last? She inched forward, now a mere six feet away.

  Deidra was staring at Robo when Mattie decided to take action. She moved near, hovering a couple feet away. Her arms remained outstretched and her hands itched to snatch the crying infant, but she feared her touch would scare the woman and make her flee.

  Though Mattie was probably a good six inches shorter than Deidra, she straightened to her full height. “Let me take this burden from you, Deidra. This is an impossible situation. Let me help.”

  She was near enough to feel the woman’s fight-or-flight instinct dissipate.

  Deidra’s eyes glazed as she stared past Mattie into the distance. “Jim’s going to kill me,” she whispered.

  “We’ll protect you,” Mattie murmured, though she didn’t feel that someone who would kill a young mother to take her baby deserved protection.

  “He can reach anyone. Who do you think set up the hit on that man who killed your brother?” Deidra closed her eyes for a beat before looking down at the baby in her arms. “This is all his idea, his doing. I got caught up in it and feared for my life. There was no way I could get out of it.”

  “That will be taken into consideration. Did you plan to give this baby to its father?”

  “What? What are you talking about? Jim plans for us to take her to California. He has parents out there waiting for her … a nice, wealthy couple. They’ll give this little girl a better home than the Thompsons ever could.”

  And pay for her too. “Deidra, it’s time to do the right thing and let me have her.” Making sure she touched only the blanket and not the woman herself, Mattie slowly grasped the warm bundle, supporting the baby with one hand above and the other beneath. She waited, moving slowly, until she felt Deidra release her grasp. She swiftly tucked the infant against her chest as she stepped backward toward Robo.

  Stella hustled forward to take charge, telling Deidra to put her hands behind her back and then cuffing her.

  “Robo, out!”

  Still obviously worked up from the stressful situation, Robo panted and saliva dripped from his black lips. But when Mattie told him to heel, he released his guard and came to her. Not skilled in handling a baby, she held the newborn close with both arms, afraid she might drop her. She told Robo he was a good boy, giving him eye contact, hoping she could pass her love and praise for him through her gaze.

  She felt almost faint with relief as she cuddled the child against her, trying to soothe her. The baby girl felt lightweight but solid in her arms, and Mattie thought for a brief moment she would cry along with her.

  The baby quieted slowly, her cry fading into hiccups and sobs. The memory of Tonya’s sweet face and smile flashed into Mattie’s mind, making her heart ache. She wondered if the girl had been able to see her baby daughter before she died.

  She peered into the infant’s tiny flushed face, damp with tears, and stroked her cheek gently with her fingertip. “You’re okay now, sweet one. We’ve got you,” she whispered, bending to press her lips to the moist tuft of red hair plastered with sweat against the small head.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Though Hauck and the K-9 teams had left an hour ago, Cole remained stationed at the suspected grave site. Madsen had taken a long time to dig down several more feet, carefully sifting through the dirt. When he’d finally turned up black, charred wood in his last shovelful, the sergeant had stopped, shaking his head.

  Cole volunteered to guard the site until the sheriff could send someone to help. Without cell phone service from this spot, he depended on Hauck and Madsen to deliver the news to McCoy, and he didn’t have any idea how long it would take for someone to relieve him of his duty.

  The sun had reached its zenith and begun its downward arc in the sky. Wind from the northwest lowered the temperature and turned the warm autumn day into a memory. Clouds filled with wind gathered around the peaks and blew ice crystals off the snowfields. Cole scrunched lower in his well-insulated coat, bringing his collar up toward his ears. He decided it would be safe to go to the cave for shelter and to build a fire.

  He untied his horse and swung into the saddle. As he approached the cave, Mountaineer raised his head, whinnied, and quickened his pace, his ears pricked forward.

  Recognizing Mountaineer’s greeting for another horse, Cole first thought someone had already arrived to take over. But then he realized such a quick turnaround would be impossible.

  He drew near the cave but couldn’t see a horse anywhere. After tying Mountaineer, he walked up the short incline and entered the cave opening. He startled when a shadowy figure at the back of the cave rose to its feet. It was Jim Hauck.

  “Detective, I didn’t see you arrive. What brings you back here?”

  Hauck didn’t answer as Cole scanned the rear of the cave where the detective had been kneeling. Several bundles lay at his feet, though the light was too dim for him to tell what they were. But when he raised his gaze again, he could clearly see the gun in Hauck’s hand—and it was trained right at him.

  “Too bad you had to come snooping back in here, Dr. Walker.” Hauck’s eyes had narrowed, and he quickly covered the ground between them, stopping six feet away. “Raise your hands or you’re a dead man.”

  * * *

  Virginia Garcia, Deputy Garcia’s wife and head of county child protection services, had come to the station to take custody of Tonya’s baby girl. It was such a relief to know the child would be sheltered and cared for in the experienced woman’s home until her future placement could be determined.

  Stella had told Mattie that on the way to the station, Deidra had confessed to accidentally overdosing Tonya after the baby’s birth—she said she’d planned only to sedate her—and she denied any knowledge of Skylar. If further investigation proved Skylar innocent of involvement, a paternity test would be ordered, and if that verified him as the baby’s father, his sister would most likely end up raising the little girl. Although Mattie had yet to meet the Thompsons, her sympathies went out to them—she figured they would be heartbroken.

  But she had no time to dwell on the sorrowful situation or even to sit in on Stella’s interrogation of Deidra. Instead, she and Robo were driving west, the lowering sun in her eyes, as she headed toward the Redstone Ridge trailhead to meet with Sheriff McCoy.

  Cole, Garrett, and Hauck were still up in the forest. Garrett had been stationed at the trail’s midpoint to guard a potential bomb site, and Cole had been left at the cave to guard a possible grave. Though Hauck had originally left with Madsen and his crew, Madsen had reported that he’d turned back, saying he’d decided to stay another day and might as well wait with Cole. And then Madsen and his dog teams had left to drive back to Denver.

  So now Cole was up in the wilderness alone with a devious killer. The thought terrified her.

  According to Deidra, Hauck was the mastermind behind it all—infant trafficking, John Cobb’s death, and helping her ditch Tonya’s car. The woman had seemed willing to talk, and Mattie hoped Stella would pry even more details from her.

  How long had Hauck been involved with criminal activity? Could he have been part of the smuggling ring that was responsible for her father’s murder? If so, could this be why her father’s case had never been solved?

  Though these questions plagued her, she set them aside as she turned into the parking lot at the trailhead. She parked next to McCoy’s Jeep, ratcheted on the emergency brake, and scanned the other vehicles. There were no people present; she figured everyone would be working at the lower site. As incident commander, the sheriff would be there too, coordinating with CBI and calling in further reinforcements as needed. He’d already sent Brody up to check on Garrett and Cole.

  She
focused on the supplies she would need, making sure she had everything with her before leaving her unit.

  Robo danced on his front feet as she opened the hatch. Wanting to harness that energy for a run up the mountain, she spoke to him in a calm tone as she invited him to unload. She emptied a small amount of leftover water from his collapsible bowl and stuffed it inside her backpack, which already contained a bladder filled with fresh water, energy bars, Robo’s treats, and some of his food.

  And one more item—an unwashed tee of Cole’s she’d retrieved from a hook in her closet, a shirt left there after an overnight stay. One of those rare nights when the kids were staying with friends and she and Cole could be together. But now, even a glimpse of the shirt that she’d bagged carefully to maintain Cole’s scent made her chest tighten.

  Without wasting time, she checked to make certain all was secure on her duty belt. Though she knew her service weapon was locked and loaded, she inspected it quickly before securing it in its holster.

  She shrugged on her pack and sprinted toward the trail with Robo at her side. The trail angled upward at a gentle incline into the forest. Her boots slipped on muddy stones, wet from melted ice and snow, making her watch her footing.

  She pushed on as the trail grew steeper, her breath coming in puffs of vapor as the sunshine faded and the temperature dipped. Robo scrambled ahead.

  They maintained a fast pace until they reached the scene, easy to identify since it was nothing like its natural state. Trees were now marked with crime scene tape, and the area was dotted with people.

  As she topped the rise, McCoy strode forward to meet her. “Brody has already started up the trail,” he said, his words clipped. “I was able to reach Garrett. He’s headed up the trail to the backside of the ridge. I told him to stay put for his own safety, but he refused. Said he couldn’t wait around with Cole in danger. He’s armed and he thinks Cole is too, for whatever that’s worth.”